After construction workers went out on strike for two days in French-speaking Switzerland, construction workers protested in Zurich over hours and pay on 11 November 2022, reported RTS. With inflation in Switzerland running at 3%, construction workers are demanding higher pay. However, the construction industry has responded with an offer of better pay tied to […]
Bank predicts home rent rises in Switzerland
According to the bank Raiffeisen, a future rental housing crisis is likely in Switzerland as the home vacancy rate moves below 1% in 2024, reported 20 Minutes. The combined forces of higher construction costs and higher interest rates have reduced the number of homes being built, said the bank. This combined with the continued growth […]
Huge Covid test fraud potentially uncovered in Switzerland
While checking statements from health insurers a number of people have noticed Covid tests that were never administered. One individual in St. Gallen discovered 30 Covid tests billed by a doctor in Vaud on their statement, reported RTS. A spokesperson for Santésuisse, a health insurance association, said the organisation estimates that 1% of Covid tests […]
Swiss inflation stable in October
Switzerland’s consumer price index (CPI) remained stable in October 2022 compared with the previous month, reported Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO) this week. This left year-on-year inflation at the end of October 2022 at 3%, the same level that it was at the end of September 2022. The stability of the index compared with the […]
Swiss pay rises don’t keep up with inflation
Recent data from Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO) show recent collective pay rises fall short of inflation. Switzerland’s key labour agreements between employers and unions included a nominal pay rise of 0.8% for 2022 and a 0.6% nominal rise in minimum wages, wrote the FSO on 31 October 2022. However, set against inflation of 3% […]
No price rises for Swiss public transport in 2023
For the seventh consecutive year, the price of tickets on Swiss public transport will remain unchanged. It will also become easier to buy tickets for bicycles and canine companions, reported RTS. News of no price increases is likely to be welcomed given the relatively high price of Swiss public transport. A survey several years ago […]
Federal commission takes aim at minimum wages
Across most of Switzerland there is no minimum wage. However, the cantons of Neuchâtel (CHF 20 per hour), Geneva (CHF 23 per hour), Jura, Ticino and Basel-City have them. This week, a federal parliamentary commission voted in favour of challenging the applicability of these minimum wages, reported RTS. If a national negotiation between employers and […]
Swiss pension funds hit hard by markets
At the end of 2021, Swiss employment-based pensions fund in aggregate held assets worth 18.5% more than what they owed. By 30 September 2022, they owed 0.5% more than they held in assets, according to government data published recently. Switzerland has a three layered pension system. The first layer is a state pension, known as […]
European court rules against Swiss gender discrimination
Recently, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of Max Beeler, a man who challenged Switzerland on gender based discrimination related to widowers pension payments. Under current rules widows receive pension payments related to their children for their entire life. Widowers on the other hand receive them only until their children reach the […]
Swiss state employee pay and numbers should be cut, argues party
The Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) argued this week that the CHF 6 billion spent on state employees should be cut, reported 20 Minutes. Since 2007, the amount spent on state employees has risen by around a third from CHF 4.5 billion to more than CHF 6 billion. In 2021, there were close to 40,000 people […]
